


coming back to you

by ThanksForTheVenom



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - 1940s, Alternate Universe - Gangsters, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-14
Updated: 2014-10-14
Packaged: 2018-02-21 04:55:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2455520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThanksForTheVenom/pseuds/ThanksForTheVenom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a 1940s Gangster AU that anon requested.</p>
            </blockquote>





	coming back to you

**Author's Note:**

> Tony and Bucky's relationship is very imbalanced, so this may fall into the realm of "dubcon", but the sex isn't ever shown "on screen".

Bucky stared up at night sky. The moon was bright and the stars were out. Breathing out sent a fine red mist into the air, as the air rattled in his lungs. “What a beautiful night to die,” he mused to himself. The blood pooling beneath him smelled like iron. Everything was going black. “Thank god, Steve got out,” he thought and closed his eyes. Peace at last.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Bucky awoke with a gasp that sent pain ricocheting around his body. The room was dark, and uncomfortably warm. Bucky wasn’t a great Catholic, but he still remembered what he learned as a school-boy. This was probably Purgatory, or he was on his way to Hell. 

Well, Bucky always knew that those dirty thoughts about his best-friend were going to send him to Hell. Bucky’s final reward was always slated to be eternal damnation. It was one reason why he became a gangster in the first place. If he was going to Hell anyway, he might as well go out in style. 

His death was certainly stylish. Going up in a ball of flame, as the coppers sank round after round of bullets into the building? Well, the boys back home were definitely going to talking about that one for quite a few years. 

There was a noise at the door, which okay, Bucky hadn’t noticed that. Now that he did, he also noticed he was on a bed. Maybe this wasn’t the afterlife, after all.

A man popped his head in. “Oh, good, you’re finally awake, and not delirious any more. That’s excellant.” 

Bucky winced as the light came on, and winced again when the man settled himself on the side of Bucky’s bed. It was Tony Stark, the head of the crime family in New York. Just my lucky day, Bucky thought to himself. The Stark family was one of the most vicious families in the crime ring.

So, Bucky was definitely alive, only now he was almost certain to be killed. The Stark’s hated having any sort of attention brought to them, and Bucky had surely done so. Having a shootout with the cops, and exploding an apartment building was a real attention getter. 

“So, what now?” Bucky asked after taking a sip of water. “You gonna brand me, or cut out my eyes?”

Stark looked appalled. “Is that my reputation, really?”

Bucky shrugged, “It’s more ya pop’s reputation, but the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, ya know?”

“Well, okay, but I’m not my father, and you say so again, I will kill you.”

Bucky nodded, yeah, that was going a long way to soothing his fears. Then Stark grinned, “I’m joking. I’ve never killed anyone, but you, my friend, you most assuredly did. You were going to have a lot of answer for,” he said. “I took care of it, of course. I take care of all my constituents, but all those widows. Yikes, and the crying babies. Such a shame.”

Stark grinned wider, and Bucky could only think of the way sharks looked when there was blood in the water.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bucky’s rehabilitation was slow and painful. Stark came by his room nearly every day. Gradually, Bucky learned to like him. He was still terrifying, but the more Bucky grew to know him the more he saw it was mostly an act. Every now and then, though, Bucky caught a glimpse of the Stark he had met first. There was a kind of dichotomy in Stark that frightened and intrigued Bucky. It was obvious the Howard had left his mark on his son, but at the same time there was an innate passion for learning that could only be Maria’s doing.

Stark was a businessman first, and an inventor second, which Bucky was grateful for when the burn wounds on his shoulder got infected.. Stark’s personal doctors amputated it, and Stark made a prosthetic arm for him. It was slightly more functional than what was currently available.

Eventually, Bucky was well enough to be of use, and Stark added him to his personal security. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hey, boss, you up yet,” Bucky called through the door that separated the two rooms. Bucky had moved into the side room, after he had interrupted an assassination attempt, two months previous. It was the highest honor for a soldier, to be considered Stark’s personal bodyguard.

Stark called back, “I’ve been up for hour, lazy bones. Pepper’s been up for hours! Everyone’s been up for hours, except you.”

“Well, if someone hadn’t kept me up for hours, I wouldn’t have slept in!’ 

Bucky heard laughter, and smiled. He didn’t know what exactly he and Stark were doing, but Pepper didn’t seem to mind. Honestly, that was all that mattered because as scary as Stark could be, Pepper was even scarier. Once Bucky had watched her stab a man through the heart with the heel of her stiletto, put her shoe back on, and continue dancing like is was no big deal. Pepper was amazing.

Bucky dressed and entered Stark’s room. “Hey, boss, what’s on the schedule for today?”

Stark was bent over a notebook, “Just putting the finishing touches on this, then we’ve got a meeting with some rum runners. They’re getting pissy over Prohibition being repealed, so I’m gonna see if we can switch the rum for guns.”

Bucky nodded along, after two years of working with Stark, and six months of whatever they were doing, he was one of Stark’s closest confidants. “Do I need to be intimidating today?” He asked, while looking over his outfit in Stark’s full length mirror.

“Good question. Maybe come packing, but don’t look like it, yeah? These are good guys, so they shouldn’t get too uppity.”

Bucky tucked a Smith and Wesson into his left side holster, and chose a trenchcoat that would cover it. He turned from side to side and adjusted until he was sure that the gun wouldn’t be seen.

Stark closed his notebook with a snap, and they walked down to the meeting room. There was one large chair and desk that was the focal point of the room. Bucky had ribbed Stark countless times over his “royalty fantasy”, and if Bucky went down on Stark in that chair, well, that was between Bucky, Stark and God.

Stark sat down with Bucky at his left side, and nodded at the guards by the door. Bucky stifled a laugh. Stark’s ego could fill an entire room, and sometimes it actually did.

The former rum runners straggled in, behind their leader. He was a large, rough looking man. They stopped in front of the desk and Bucky finally looked away from the obvious leader. He felt the blood run out of his face. He grabbed at the back of Stark’s chair before he could fall to the ground. Stark looked sharply over at him, “Everything alright over there, Bucky?”

Steve. Right there, with this group of ruffians. Steve. 

Bucky swallowed around the lump in his throat. All the hard work Bucky had put into keeping Steve away from the seedier side of this city, and it had all been for nothing. Steve hadn’t noticed him yet, but it was only a matter of time. Bucky cleared his throat, and leaned down to Stark’s ear, “I’m not feeling well, gonna hafta sit this one out, boss.”

Stark looked concerned, but just nodded. “Send in Natasha. She can replace you.”

Bucky murmured his thanks, and slipped out of the room with his head down. Natasha was at her place beside the side door. She gave him a questioning glance when he came out. “I’m not feeling well, Nat, you’re up,” he said.

Natasha nodded without a word. She hadn’t spoken in years since her partner Clint died, after being found trading information to the Asgard second-in-command, Loki. However, what she lacked in words, she made up for in sheer, terrifying skill.

Bucky slipped into the washroom and splashed cold water on his face, “Get it together, James,” he said to his reflection. He was loyal to Stark, without question, but Steve had always been his first priority. He had taken the dangerous, unsavory jobs so Steve wouldn’t have to. Steve was always the light to Bucky’s dark, and now Steve was down there talking to Stark. Bucky clenched his fist and resisted the urge to punch the mirror. 

He was going to put this back to right, even if it killed him.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bucky listened at the side door until the meeting was over. He slipped out the front door after the group and waited until Steve split off and went his own way. Steve stopped at a rundown apartment. The sight of the pitiful place sent a stab of guilt right into Bucky’s heart. He was living the high life while tiny Steve was down here in the slums. Some best friend he was.

As he knocked at Steve’s front door, and straightened his coat, he rehearsed what he was going to say.

He never got the chance, because as soon as the door opened, he got socked right in the mouth. Bucky’s head snapped to the side, but it didn’t really hurt. Steve was pretty small at the best of times, and the rough living hadn’t done him any favors. His fists remained clenched and his eyes were bright with tears. “Look what the stupid dragged in.”

Bucky laughed a little, “I guess I deserve that.” 

Steve huffed, but stepped aside and let him in. “What’re you doing here, jerk? Not having enough fun with Stark anymore?”

“Look, Steve, I’m sorry. I-I can’t explain it, but Stark has this way of filling everything up with only him. Besides, he saved my life, I owe him.” Bucky shrugged and stopped. He couldn’t explain the way Stark replaced everything with only him. Stark’s ability to inspire unwavering loyalty was the stuff of legends. “He’s not a bad guy, Steve.”

Steve relaxed, and finally dragged Bucky into a hug. “I thought you were dead, jerk.”

Bucky hugged him back, and rested his cheek on Steve’s head.

“I can’t stay too long. Stark doesn’t know I’m gone, but I’ll be back. I swear Steve. I’m coming back to you. I’m with you til the end of the line, punk.”


End file.
